THESE are the latest images of the £98million National Indoor Sports Arena to be built in Glasgow's East End.
THESE are the latest images of the £98million National Indoor Sports Arena to be built in Glasgow's East End.
The sports venue, which will be ready in time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, will be one of the biggest of its kind in the world.
With seating for 5000 people, it will be a city, regional and national indoor training centre, as well as a major international sports event venue.
Three full-size training and community sports halls will serve as warm-up spaces for athletes as well as event spaces in their own right.
Scotland's first purpose-built indoor velodrome for cycle racing will also operate as a roller sports park.
The arena at Dalmarnock will include a community sports and leisure centre with a dedicated community sports hall, dance studio, extensive gym and spa, creche, outdoor five-a-side pitch and cafe.
Elite athletes will be able to use conditioning and physiotherapy suites and will have medical rooms, as well as seminar and workshop spaces.
Archie Graham, Glasgow City Council's executive spokesman for culture and sport, said: "This will be a unique sports venue that will provide a venue of world class standards for staging national and international sporting events.
"It will serve as a city, regional and national centre of sporting excellence for athletics, cycling, basketball, netball and volleyball.
"It will also be a community sports and leisure centre in the heart of an area of major redevelopment, with new private and social housing and an expanding population."
A total of 84 full-time staff will be needed to operate the venue and the council plans to target training and apprenticeships in building skills and leisure centre operations at local people.
Council leader Steven Purcell said: "The success of our bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014 has presented us with the best chance in a generation, and possibly a lifetime, to improve the lives and raise the aspirations of every Glaswegian.
 Glasgow has promised a unique sports venue which will serve athletics, cycling, basketball, netball and volleyball |  Inside - and outside - look at the plans for the 2014 Games arena |  |  Spectacular entrance to the sports arena in the East End with lots of natural light getting through | |
"We want to ensure all our citizens have the opportunity to reap the benefit.
"It is easy to exaggerate the potential of something, but I believe Glasgow is now going through a period in its history as significant as the industrial revolution."
Mr Purcell said the council wanted to reach out to people who were missing out on the current success of the city, especially young people who have left school but never found work.
"That is exactly what we aim to do by maximising opportunities for young people through apprenticeships during the construction of the National Indoor Sports Arena.
"The construction industry in Glasgow is already enjoying a huge period of growth at the moment, so it makes sense to use this to create opportunities for people.
